The Norwegian broadcaster NRK keeps making news with its unique stories, and their newest show, “Dumbsday,” is no different. The show’s first episode aired on NRK on November 2, 2023. On April 8, it will make its foreign debut at the prestigious Canneseries Festival.
It’s a 30-minute comedy with 10 episodes about six unusual heroes who work together to save the world from a virus that turns people into stupid zombies. It is the group’s job to get the only virus vaccine to safety, where Norway’s smartest people are hidden.
Seefood TV made the show, and Dumbsday has a great cast, with Jakob Schøyen Anderson, Henrik Mestad, Kristine Graendsen, Cengiz Al, Charlotte Frogne, and Elli Müller Osborne, among others. Every character is stupid in their own way, which makes the show very funny and enjoyable to watch. Variety called “Dumbsday” a mix of “Idiocracy” and “Day of the Dead.”
Behind the scenes, Christopher Pahle (writer) and Erlend Westnes (director) have built a world where comedy and drama fit together perfectly. Pahle said that the idea for the show came up between 2017 and 2018. They pitched it to NRK and then started writing the stories. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, however, the project was held up, which ironically led them to make the show even more current and realistic.
NRK executive director Marit Støre Valeur had a brilliant idea for the virus that makes people stupid. It gave the story another level of complexity. Pahle and Westnes stressed how important it is to mix styles to make a story that is interesting, where comedy and drama can live together peacefully.
As for what will happen with “Dumbsday,” Pahle and Westnes hinted that they have a lot of ideas for new seasons and maybe even a full-length movie. Between now and then, fans can watch “Dumbsday” and other NRK comedies thanks to Primitives, a group from Belgium that is bringing these shows to people all over the world.